Old Embers with Gleaming Ice
by MitarashiAnko7077
Summary: Three-million years ago, 3 ancient warriors saved mankind from certain doom. The gods have called to these warriors again to save the modern world from another disaster, or mankind will be gone for good. Meanwhile in the city of Alphea, strange things are happening to a high school girl. Eventual femslash, supernatural, AU. Rated for language.
1. Chapter 1

Three milenia ago, the world was plagued with famine, death, and war. Villages and Cities were on the verge of perfect annihilation, and there seemed to be no end.

Day after day since the war had begun, the sky shone red like the blood of those who passed. This war was not fought between men, but against the forces of light and darkness.

Darkness fought with demons and evil magics that plagued the armies of Light: mankind. Soldiers of Light died daily from painful sicknesses and severely infected wounds. Those who were not crippled from injuries or sickness were quick to die from the raids that the army of Darkness executed almost like clockwork.

One day the Captain of the Army of Light had fallen hideously ill with a particularly bad disease, one that ate you from the inside out. He beckoned his lead officers over, to discuss what should happen after his passing.

"Go underground." He commanded them. "Let the earth protect us from disease and war. Until the time has come that the Heavenly warriors arise, do not leave the sanctuary of the earth."

The Heavenly warriors were warriors of prophecy. In their hour of absolute need, the warriors would make themselves known, and save mankind. The prophecy claimed they lie asleep in ancient mountain ruins. Many had been sent to try and release them from their slumber, but none had left the ruins alive.

Now the Army of Light was entirely underground, as was any man or woman that was not sick. The children and elderly were not allowed underground, as they were more susceptible to the famine.

"Where are the Heavenly Warriors?" Shouted one man to the new Captain of the Army of Light. "This is our hour of need, if this goes on much longer mankind will no longer exist!"

The others in the cavern agreed with their own shouts. The Captain could not handle all of these angry people, and neither could his leading officers. All they could do was pray that the Heavenly Warriors would awaken soon, and would save them all.

"And? Common Tec don't leave us hanging!"

"Yeah! Did the warriors ever come?"

"Obviously, otherwise we wouldn't be here right now."

"Uh, Flora, you do know it's just a fairytale, right?"

The group laughed at their friend's odd comment.

"So? Common keep going!"

"I can't." Tecna replied, holding the book in her lap. "This is one of my favorite fairytales, though it was never finished for some reason."

"Well, we can guess that they did come, right? Why would anyone call it a fairytale if evil won in the end?" Musa asked, pressing a finger to her chin.

"Maybe that's why it was never finished, maybe because the author wanted evil to win." Stella said crossing her arms.

"That isn't a nice ending though... just to leave us wondering like that." Bloom huffed.

"That isn't the end, Bloom." Tecna said. The group perked up. "People say that the author of this book was one of those who lived through this, and that it ended because he eventually died. Which fits with how this tale came to be, it was dug up during an excavation in South America while they were looking for ancient artifacts. Originally, this title was found in a very old Latin, and was incredibly difficult to decipher."

"If it is true that it was dug up, isn't it just as true that there could be the ending of the book still be buried?" Flora mused.

"It is, but when they found this part of the book, the pages almost instantly evaporated to dust, it's a miracle they were able to retrieve what they have." She paused. "However if you go online there is a forum filled with people that do nothing but devise endings for this."

"Hold on... so if this book was dug up, does that mean it was true? That there was a war between demons and humans?" Bloom asked.

"That is also up for speculation. It's possible that the man who wrote this was delusional. In and around the area where the book was found there was evidence of weaponry, and mass graves. Though, it could just as easily have been a war between two tribes, and the man who wrote this saw the other tribe as demons who used early chemical warfare."

"Tecna you take all the fun out of reading fun books like this!" Musa groaned.

"Do I? I don't mean to..." She chuckled.

"Alright, that's it for story time guys. I vote truth or dare!" Stella beamed.

The group groaned. "Again? Common Stel!"

The weekend turned into Monday too quick for the girls to enjoy their 4-day weekend. From their sleepover on Thursday night, they had a huge shopping day on Friday, followed by another sleepover-slash-pool party at Stella's on Saturday night, where Tecna had read them the odd unfinished book. Sunday morning brought on a group realization, save for Tecna, that they all still had homework to do for the week, so they decided to have a study group that worked out better than any of them thought.

"Woo! What a vacation huh girls?" Stella said, stretching happily as they entered the school building.

"You say that like we've been to some exotic place or something." Musa smirked.

"We might as well have been, but I'll settle for shopping and pool parties any day!" Bloom smiled.

"You should have done your homework during study period like I did... Then we could have done more stuff yesterday!" Tecna said crossing her arms.

"Aww, lighten up Tecna. We still had a lot of fun at our little improvised study group." Flora smiled sweetly.

"I have to admit, I didn't think we were gonna get anything done!" Musa chuckled. "I thought Stella was going to pull out that damn bottle again and we'd have to play more Truth or Dare!"

"Musa! Give me some credit... I know when I have work to do, and I do it then." Stella whined.

"Yeah, but you usually don't know you have stuff to do until the last minute!" Bloom laughed. The others laughed too. That was when the first bell for classes echoed through the concrete halls.

"See you girls later!" The group waved as they separated and headed for their first classes.

-SOUTH AMERICAN RUINS; 10:42AM

"Professor, have a look at this."

"Hm?" An older looking man came by to take a look at the younger mans work.

"That ancient book found here 30 years ago... I think this relates to that." Said the man.

The professor looked where he was pointing. Before them was a huge slab with hundreds of odd markings surrounding three protruding slabs that showed incredible signs of wear. The slabs had warriors carved into them, and some other things that were too worn to immediately discern.

"That old book? I thought we agreed it wasn't true, just a fiction of the time... though, it is possible that there is some truth to it... perhaps there were three foreign warriors that came and won the battle for this tribe..." The professor mused aloud. He was familiar with the book the man mentioned, as he was here the day it had been found.

"So you're saying that this could be their grave-marker?" The man asked.

The professor nodded. "I am saying that is very likely, but..." he put his hand on the slab in the center. "Look at these three slabs, the ones that most likely indicate their bodies. They are worn than the rest of the slab."

The man thought for a long moment. "What if... as some kind of homage, they rubbed oils or plants on the stones? Believing that, even after their death, the souls of these warriors would keep their land safe from more tragedy?"

"That is a good theory. We won't know for sure until we get some surface samples, then we can-" A loud crack cut him off. "What was that?" He looked around at the ground below him, before he looked to the slab. A massive crack was going through one of the worn slabs. "Did you do that?" The professor asked the man, pointing at the slab.

"N-no! I swear I didn't touch it, maybe the dig team above-" Another loud crack, and the other two slabs were now cracked just as badly as the first one.

"Hey! Up there! Stop digging! We've found something down here and you're cracking it!" The professor shouted up the rock wall.

A man looked down from the side. "We aren't digging, we're on lunch break!" He shouted back.

"If they aren't making it crack then..." Another crack, this time came the sound of a stone splintering.

The rock slab had large cracks covering the protruding slabs. They webbed out and only increased, like something was banging against them, trying to get out.

"Professor!" The young man pushed the older one to the ground as the stone burst forward, revealing a powerful light from the revealed holes.


	2. Chapter 2

"Ugh..."

"What is it Flora?" Bloom asked her friend.

"The one day I forget my lunch and the school closes their salad bar... I can't eat this stuff, it's grease covered, chemically produced... stuff." Flora squirmed.

"Then lets head to the cafe. Stella took Tecna and Musa with her back to her house, so it can just be the two of us." Bloom smiled.

"That sounds fabulous, thanks Bloom." Flora returned the smile.

Bloom and Flora had been friends since preschool, and had been absolutely inseperable through Middle School. High School was no different, they had one another in almost half of their classes, and Flora would give Bloom a ride home from school since she couldn't drive yet. Because of the other three girls it was difficult for the two to have much other time to themselves, but when the opportunity arose they almost always took it.

They arrived at Flora's favorite place to eat out, the Grassy Knole Cafe. It was her favorite because everything there was naturally grown in a garden in front of the cafe.

Their lunch was brief but satisfying, and they were back in class with just minutes to spare.

-ALPHEA CITY; 4PM NEWSCAST.

"In other news, the South American ruins have suprised excavators yet again, when they discovered a warrior burial site. We have ARN Reporter Daneil Rodgers with further details."

"Thanks Delia. Behind me is the dig site where young scientist Edgar Fontz and Professor Bernard Schnider discovered the burial site." He pointed up to a hilltop and the camera man zoomed in. "This was as close as we could get, but up there is the hillside where the grave site was found." The camera panned back out to show the reporter. "With us we have the scientist who found the grave site, Mr. Edgar Fontz. Can you tell us what happened Mr. Fontz?"

"Well, at first I was surprised. When I had come across one part of the slab, I was elated, and hoped there was more. But what I'd unearthed the whole thing, I was nothing short of astounded! Our group had never found anything as big as this in decades!" He chuckled. "Then something happened, something that we still aren't able to explain." He paused and cleared his throat. "While the professor and I were discussing the grave site, the tomb began to crack. It was... slow at first, then it just burst open. I had to push the professor aside to save his life and mine."

"What happened after that?" The reporter asked. It was obvious that he was curious as well, and that he wasn't putting on a ruse for the cameras.

"There was this... this incredibly bright, powerful light... I can't be too sure what it was, but I swear I saw something inside the light." He paused. "I looked to the professor for a brief moment to make sure he was alright, but when I looked back the light had vanished, and left nothing there besides the digsite and the coffins where the bodies were kept. We've been investigating them since." Edgar finished.

"Wow. Just a fantastic discovery for history." he turned back to the camera. "This is Daniel Rodgers reporting live from South America. Deila."

"Thank you for that exciting report Daneil. Now onto the local weather forecast..."

"Wow can you believe that?" Tecna asked.

"Believe what? That after 2 weeks we still haven't got any rain?" Musa asked.

"No... that they've found a burial site." She smiled widely. "In the same area where they found that story I read to you all the other night."

"So? The theory on that is that it was just a crackpot, you don't honestly think those were heavenly warriors themselves?" Musa arched an eyebrow.

"How do you explain a bright light, and then there being nothing in the graves?" Tecna asked.

"Uh.. a delusional digger who spent too much time in the heat and had a light breakfast?" Musa proposed. "Look don't get your hopes up. Something as ludicrous as that can't be true."

"Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it can't be real." Tecna smiled knowingly.

-SOMEWHERE IN MIDDLE AMERICA; 4:32PM

"This world is strange..."

"It's only been three million years, Darcy."

"You honestly were expecting it not to change?"

"Silence, I was merely observing our surroundings." Protested Darcy.

"Still, this world does not look to be in peril..."

"Perhaps not iminent peril, Stormy. Perhaps this time we are meant to stop peril from happening?" Darcy mused.

"It is possible, but... the last time we were brought about we came at the last possible moment." Stormy said.

"Perhaps we are here to stop peril but... Don't you two feel that we have been given much less knowledge then last time?"

"Yes, that I agree with. Icy, what do you propose we do?" Darcy asked.

"We go forth into this new world... we cannot stay out here in this desert, we may perish ourselves." Icy said.

"We cannot perish, we are immortal? Or did three million years in slumber perhaps drain you of you common senses" Darcy chuckled.

"Silence. We must learn to blend in here, I get that feeling from the gods above... Surely you two feel it as well?"

"I do, though... where do we travel?" Darcy asked.

"We shall continue North. As the sun sets in the west, we will be able to only travel for a while more." Icy said.

"Why only until sundown? Why not into the night? The North star can guide us forth." Stormy protested.

"Maybe... we do not know if the gods have yet to take the North Star for their own though... Perhaps we should travel until sundown, and try and find mankind in that time... and learn from them." Darcy replied.

"It is settled then. Let us proceed on our journey, and may it lead us away from this desolate place..."

Day had quickly turned to night, and the trio had still not found any signs of mankind. Though it was evident they were nearing somewhere, as the endless sand dunes eventually gave way to rocks, and some light vegetation.

"We have found no signs of man... and The North Star has vanished." Darcy sighed.

"Then we will take refuge here for the evening." Icy said.

"Where? There is nothing here, Icy!" Stormy shouted, obviously irritated from having gotten absolutely nowhere by traveling North.

"We cannot keep traveling in the dark, there is nothing to indicate North!" Darcy defended.

"Why not keep moving? If we stray East or West we will know by sunrise." Stormy growled.

"Stormy, we have been walking since before the sun was at it's zenith, we are tired. We must rest, we don't want to meet the new world tired now do we?" Icy said.

"Well-"

"Hello? Is someone out there?" A small lantern was approaching them.

"Who goes there?" Icy shouted to the figure as they neared.

The figure, now only a few feet away stopped. It was a man, tanned by the sun, with obviously light colored hair. "You dress oddly for living in this part of the country." Then he snapped his fingers. "Ah! I bet you guys are travelers! Let me guess... you're from Italy? Or maybe France?"

"Er..." Icy faltered. "I believe... we are lost?" She said uncertainly. "Yes, we have misplaced ourselves somehow, could you help us?" She smiled.

"Well... I guess. I mean, I'm staying at a friends place while I'm visiting Mexico, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him. If you wanna follow me I can take you to where I'm staying." He smiled. The trio nodded and followed him.

"You never answered my question, where are you three from? I've never seen people in clothes like yours around here." He said.

The three looked down at their wardrobes, and found that they were in what they were "buried" in. Gold-plated breast plates exposing their midriff, and a gold plated belt that hung lightly on their hips and dangled down four strips of fabric, two on the sides and one each in the back and front. They still had on their sandals with straps that went up to mid-shin.

Icy thought a moment. "Er.. we're from somewhere far away, someplace I don't believe you would have heard of." She spoke carefully, thankful that she managed to find something to say before the other two did.

"Oh, I get it. You guys are runaways!" He smiled. "Yeah, I'm sure of it. I ran away once, when I was ten... I hated my hometown so much I couldn't even think about the name without getting mad!" He laughed.

'I can't believe that worked...' Icy thought.

"Why not tell us about yourself?" Darcy asked.

"Hm? oh, I'm not that interesting. I'm here on a vacation from my job in the states, nothing too special." He shrugged.

"We seem to be fairly far from where you are staying, how did you spot us?"

He chuckled again. "Well, thats a bit funny. Your outfits kept reflecting the moonlight through my bedroom window while I was trying to sleep." He smirked. "Alright, my turn to ask a question. What are your names?"

"I'm Icy. She's Darcy, and this is Stormy." Icy introduced them.

"Nice names. I'm Clyde. Clyde Burnswell. I work in Alphea in a state-run government office." He smirked. "The job is quite boring, but I do get to take nice vacations like this once in a blue moon." He laughed. "We're here, I'm just gonna ask that you take your shoes off when we get in here, alright?" He smiled. The trio nodded, and they went inside.


	3. Chapter 3

Alphea was waking to the sounds of birds as the sun poked out over the horizon. Within a few minutes, the sun watched as the city came to life.

"Hey Tec, did you see that news report last night?" Flora asked.

"Hm? Oh, the one about the burial site? Yes, the website was buzzing last night, the whole community is excited for this discovery!" She beamed.

"Er, I meant the one about how some chemical pesticides are actually good for the plants, but yes, that one was interesting too. They think it's connected to that story you like, right?" Flora said.

"Mhm! I can't wait to see what becomes of it." Tecna smiled.

"Just a bunch of pretty rocks." Stella waved her hand. "But not as pretty as this one." She held her hand out to show the group a new ring with a decently sized emerald on it.

"Wow! Stella when did you get that?" Musa asked, looking closer at it.

"Brandon and I went on a date last night, and he surprised me with this." She held her hands over her chest and closed her eyes dreamily. "He gave me it as a promise ring, that one day we're going to get married." She smiled.

"That's amazing Stella! Congratulations!" Bloom hugged her friend.

"Thanks! Ooh! And to celebrate, we should all go out for Chinese food tonight!" The group shared an agreement just before the bell for class to start rang.

"Morning ladies, I made some breakfast." Clyde smiled. He'd loaned them some of his friends clothes that were at the house to sleep in, and that was how they appeared in the kitchen now.

They took a seat around the table, and Clyde served the eggs. "Scrambled eggs, fresh store-bought bacon, and wheat toast with jam. Eat up guys." He smiled before serving himself, putting the pan back, and seating himself to eat.

'I like this breakfast ritual, it is interesting, and yet an intelligent way to go about getting ones morning fill.' Icy thought as she ate.

"So do you guys know where you're running off to yet?" Clyde asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

'Running off to? Oh, of course. Last night Clyde believed us to be 'runaways'... it's a nice ruse, we should keep it up. But... where are we going to?' Icy thought.

"North." Darcy responded. "We have family in the states." She used the terminology Clyde had used last night, in hopes of blending in.

"Oh, alright." He took a bite of egg and swallowed. "Where at? East, West...?"

"Alphea, actually." Icy said, picking up on what Darcy was doing, and using what little knowledge they'd gained to further their progress North.

"Oh, alright. Well, I bet you guys wanna get on your way today, but." He smirked. "I don't think you're going to fit in too well with what you were wearing last night. My friend has some casual stuff you can wear, and I can get you one-way plane tickets to Alphea, and get you on your way a bit faster." He smiled.

"We would not want to... be a disturbance to you." Icy said, finishing her bacon.

"No trouble at all. My friend has so much crap that he wouldn't notice if anything went missing, and besides I've got enough frequent flyer miles to get two and a half tickets, I can vouch for the other half to get you guys going. Sound alright?"

"Yes, thank you." Darcy said, taking a drink of orange juice.

"Don't mention it."

"Alright, here are your tickets, the plane leaves in fifteen minutes so make sure you get to the right gate, just follow the number on your ticket." He smiled.

"Can I ask you one more question?" Stormy said.

"Sure, go ahead." Clyde smiled.

"Why help three runaways like us?"

Clyde chuckled. "Like I said when we met, I had run away once too. There was no way I could get where I wanted to get to, and I know I was crushed enough that I went back home. If you're from overseas, I have to imagine it'd be difficult to get back there... Plus you said you had family in Alphea, so I know what kinda city you're heading too and I know it's not a bad place at all." He smiled again. "I wish I could see you off, but I have an appointment at the spa that I just cannot miss. Good luck." He waved and headed off.

"He was kind... I don't see why we were summoned, no peril here..." Darcy mused.

"He said follow the numbers... we must find this gate, otherwise we will miss our... flight? Yes." Icy said. They were using Clyde's terminology as it seemed fit, as Icy noticed many of the people around them did not use the same vocabulary they did.

"May I help you ladies?" A man approached. He was wearing a black shirt tucked into pants, and a badge adorned his left breast pocket while a CB chord ran up his right side.

"Could you direct us to this gate?" Icy said, pointing at her ticket.

The man looked an nodded. "Sure. These gates are in alphanumeric order... Gate 3S is here so..." He turned and looked. "Gate 4B is going to be just down that way. They're all marked, you can't miss it." He paused and turned back to them, looking at their backpacks. "Do you have any other luggage?"

"No, we're just visiting family. Pardon us, we really must be off." Darcy said, and headed off in the direction the man pointed. The other two followed.

Within twenty minutes the girls were on their flight, and they realized that Darcy had terrible flight sickness.

The trio arrived at Alphea in a matter of hours. During the flight Icy had settled on reading a magazine Clyde had given her, and she steadily increased her knowledge about their surroundings. It was a National Geographic issue focused on technology, and she was astounded by how far mankind had came in only three million years.

"At last, solid earth." Darcy smiled. "I don't think we should do that again."

"Agreed... though it was faster than going by foot." Icy said.

"What do we do from here?" Stormy asked.

"First we should go to that area there, and grab our bags. Then let's see what is around this place." Icy said.

"We must trust that the gods will take us where we must go, and do what we can to further ourselves." Darcy said. The trio nodded, grabbed their bags and left.

Outside the lunchtime rush had just past, though there were still a few people on the sidewalks and roads. Through the gods, the girls were educated enough to not run aimlessly into traffic, and wonder what a car was. They possessed light knowledge on this new world, though not much of it was practical.

"Look there," Darcy pointed to a building at the end of the road. It was large, and made of white concrete, and the entry way had several tall, ornate pillars in front of it.

"Looks like a temple of worship from the old world... Maybe we should go have a look." Icy said. Stormy nodded and the trio headed to the building.

"Shouldn't we have had to sign a permission form or something?" Stella whined.

"We signed it at the beginning of the year, it saves paper. Besides it's just to the museum." Bloom said. The two were on a bus, sitting next to each other as it rode on.

"It could be worse," came Musa from in front of them, turning on her knees to see the two of them. "We could still be in class. At least we're getting out a bit."

Stella sighed. "I guess you're right."

"You should be more excited, from what you've told us this is going to be a first time experience for you!" Tecna said with a smile, turning to face them as well.

"If that's sarcasm it's not funny." Stella groaned.

"Oh common, lighten up! It's just a museum, it's not like we're going to all be shaved bald or something." Bloom smiled.

"Eep! Shaved bald?" Stella squealed, and was echoed by Flora who was sitting behind them. Bloom, Tecna and Musa all shared a laugh.

"Alright class, we're here, now when we get inside-"

Icy Darcy and Stormy were well inside the building, and they realized it wasn't a place of worship, but rather a museum.

"An interesting place." Darcy mused as they passed the museum curator. "This place holds ancient and modern history." she was skimming the museum guide that was available at the entry area.

"It looks like a place of worship, yet it's an homage to this worlds past... Seems a bit insulting to the gods." Stormy said, crossing her arms.

Icy grabbed the guide from Darcy. "Look here, it says that there is a religious exhibit. It may not be a place of worship but it is evident they have not forgotten the gods." She told Stormy. The three began to walk around inside, while a school bus was just pulling in.

"Over 65 Million years old?" Stormy asked, looking at the dinosaur fossil in the case. It was an amber, and trapped inside looked like part of a tooth or claw.

"I didn't think anything existed before mankind did... I wonder if the people of the old world knew anything about these creatures." Icy mused quietly, as to not draw attention.

"I wouldn't believe they did... People of the old world only dug in the soil to plant their crops. They had no interest in the past, or rather didn't think that a past existed." Darcy said. They moved on to the next exhibit, but not before Icy felt a small twinge at her temple.

Icy turned and looked around, thinking maybe something had hit her there, only to see the group of school kids being briefed about the rules while they were here. When her eyes set on a female student with firey orange hair and blue eyes, she got the same twinge in her temple. "Does that girl look familiar to either of you?" Icy asked in a low voice, averting her gaze for only a minute.

"What girl?" Darcy asked.

"The one at the edge of that crowd of people, with orange hair." The other two looked and spotted her almost immediately.

"I vaguely remember someone looking like that... Though I'm not sure who or where." Darcy said.

"Maybe she's going to bring about the demise we're here to prevent." Stormy said. "We should ambush her right now, and-"

"No." Icy said. "No, we don't know for sure. There are endless possibilities to what she could be."

"Why was your attention drawn to her?" Darcy asked, as she turned her back to the crowd. The other two followed suit.

"I just felt something tap my head... I'm not sure if it has any significance." Icy shook her head. "Lets keep looking at the museum, I know what she looks like so perhaps we should keep an eye on her." The other two nodded and they looked at the next exhibit: Neanderthals.

"Stella, have you seen those three before?" Bloom poked her friend and whispered.

"Huh? Seen who?" Bloom pointed to their right, to three women looking at the neanderthal exhibit. "No, I'd remember someone with frizzy hair like that. Why?"

"They were staring at me a minute ago... or maybe they weren't, maybe I'm just being paranoid." She sighed.

"Don't worry about it." Stella giggled. "Just a few more minutes then we're free of teachers!" She whispered excitedly.

"I thought you didn't want to see the museum?" Flora asked. She was standing just behind them.

"I don't, but I DO want to get away from the teachers!" she smiled.

Icy, Darcy and Stormy followed the girl around the entire time, but did so in a manner they considered stealthy. It worked for the most part, the girl didn't appear to notice them.

'She does not seem harmless...' Icy thought. 'If she is not harmless, then why did I feel something in my head when I saw her?' She turned to Darcy and Stormy. "Lets go. I'm a bit hungry." The other two nodded and they left the museum.


	4. Chapter 4

"We've been walking for a while, where does one find food here?" Stormy groaned.

"I am not sure..." Darcy said. Then something struck her nose, something hearty, like meat. "Do you smell that?"

Icy and Stormy both sniffed the air. "Yes. It smells like meat! Let us follow the trail." The other two nodded and ran toward the smell.

A block down and they saw the source of the smell. A street fair, filled with food stands and people dancing to music. These people didn't look like the ones they passed on the street, or the ones they'd seen in the museum. Some were dressed like animals, some had their faces covered with odd patterns.

"What is this?" Stormy furrowed her brow.

"What is this?" Someone in a white suit with a wildly colored and decorated top-hat with a matching eye-mask approached. "This is Alphea's costume street fair!"

"Costume... Street fair?" Darcy inquired.

The man nodded. "Yes! This fair goes on for a week, and in that week we celebrate!"

"Celebrate what?" Icy asked.

"The beginning of spring, of course! The planting of fresh crops, and the sighting of fresh flowers! We dress up because it shows that we are starting to bloom as well, as new individuals once again! Come back with a costume on, please! The attractions and festivities are free to those in costume!" The man smiled, before running off as a rather catchy tune boomed out through the high buildings.

"Free to those in costume?" Darcy said. "We don't have any costumes though."

Icy looked down at herself, and got an idea. "We do though. Follow me."

When the three returned to the street, the man from before was there with a wide smile. "Hey, hey, hey! Look at you three!"

Icy smiled. They were dressed in their attire from yesterday, what they'd been "buried" in. "Just something we found lying around." She said.

He nodded. "Common! I'd love to show three lovely ladies like you around!" He said with his big smile.

Bloom was alone at her place, laying down on her bed and doing some homework. They spend a little too much time at the restaurant, and because of that Bloom was being forced to stay up late to finish her homework.

"One more problem... stupid math." She groaned. Her phone rang then. Picking it up, she saw that it was Stella. "What's up?" She answered.

"Did you do the vocab for bio? I asked Tecna but she won't share with me." Stella said.

"Oh uh... yeah sure. I'll let you copy it first period tomorrow, alright?" Bloom said, finding the document on her bed.

"Thank you so much! I'd do it myself but I forgot my book. Thanks sweetie! Seeya tomorrow!" And she hung up.

Bloom sighed and shut her phone. "Great, now I gotta do this too..."

Icy, Darcy and Stormy were still at the street fair long after the sun went down. Some local band was playing on stage, and they were having fun listening to it.

"This milenia sure knows how to celebrate." Darcy said, sitting down at one of the benches.

"And cook. Those... what did they call them? Gyros? Those were amazing." Stormy smiled.

"We cannot forget our purpose though." Icy said. "What we're here for. Remember?"

"Well, yes, but so far all we have is that you get a pinch in your head when you see that red-headed girl we saw at the museum." Darcy said.

"We need to figure out who that is. I've been thinking about it since we left the museum. She is practically harmless, if not a bit weak. Perhaps we are meant to protect her from peril."

"Could be... but how do we find out who she is? She left the museum before us, remember?" Stormy said, crossing her arms.

"Yes. But she left in that large yellow object, remember? There weren't a lot of those on the street while we were coming here." Icy said.

"You're right... and there was something on the side to. Alphea School District." Darcy remembered.

"School? What's that?" Stormy scratched her chin.

"I read something about that in what I read on the plaine. It's a place where youth go to get educated." Icy said.

"I see... So where do we go from here?" Darcy asked.

"My place, if you'd like..." It was the man from before, and he smelled just lightly of alcohol. His eyes were half-lidded and he was swaying side to side. "All 8 of you... I'm an open gu-" He was cut off as a large stream of vomit erupted from his mouth, and onto the pavement below, with the man following his vomit and landing hard on the ground.

The trio were silent for a moment as they looked at the now unconscious man on the vomit-covered pavement. "Is... he still alive?" Darcy asked carefully.

"I'm not going to touch him to find out. Let's go." Icy said, walking away from the man. The other two followed until they were well away from the fair.

"Now we're lost. Again." Stormy groaned as they walked through a darkened alley.

"We need to find a place to rest for the night." Darcy concluded and shuddered. "And to get out of these clothes, the air is cold." She rubbed her arms.

Icy looked around before she saw someplace that looked good. "There. We'll change over there. It's dark enough, and there's no one on this street so no one will see." The other two nodded and followed Icy into the alleyway.

They'd just gotten their breast-plates off when they heard a shuffling at the mouth of the alley. The trio looked to the silhouette.

"T'day muss' be m' lu'ky day..." Came a deep, slurred voice from the figure. He stepped toward them.

Icy had realized the smell pouring from the man was alcohol, the source appearing to be the dark-glass bottle in his hand. His hair was shaggy and unkempt, and he had a very dense beard.

"Firs' I get s'me free drinks from s'me guys at th' bar... now I get s'me free sex..." His face widened in a drunk smirk.

"Sex?" Darcy murmured to Icy.

"From what I've gathered, it's what they call reproduction in this era." She replied.

"I'm not doing that with him..." Stormy said, pulling her pants up and fastening them.

"You don't gotta choice babayy" he slurred, almost tripping as he continued to near them. Now he was only 2 feet away from them. "There's only three 'a you... and one 'a me! I c'n take you down eazy" he smiled.

"I think his logic is flawed." Darcy said.

"I think he's drunk." The other two looked to Icy. "It's what happens when some people drink to much alcohol." She turned to them. "I was picking up some stuff at that street fair, not just dance moves."

"I'mna' drunk!" Roared the man. "I'mma kill you for sayin' that, you stupid cunt!" His slur seemed to go away as he got angrier. He took a quick step to the side and smashed his bottle on the brick wall, creating a jagged weapon. The trio grabbed their bags and slung them on their shoulders, standing their ground.

He howled as he charged at Icy, thrusting the broken bottle forward. Icy's instincts kicked in and she grabbed the wrist holding the bottle, and was easily able to flip him around, pulling him into a headlock. Darcy took the bottle and threw it to the other side of the alley where it shattered. Stormy hit him in the gut, and he was out and on the ground in seconds.

"If the demons had been drunk when we fought them three million years ago, that village wouldn't have needed to wish for us." Darcy sighed as the trio left the alley.

"They'd have still prayed for us. Those people were weak. Some of these ones are better... when they aren't drunk that is." Icy said.

"Hey you three!" The trio turned and saw a man running toward them. "That man that just walked into the alley... did you do that to him?"

"Yeah, so what?" Stormy said, using some of the phrases she'd heard at the fair.

"I just want to thank you. I've been chasing him all night, somehow he managed to evade me this long..." He laughed at his own stupidity. "He stole some liquor from my shop down the street, that's why I was chasing him." He paused. "Say, are you three lost by chance? You don't look like you belong in this neck of the woods." He said.

"We are lost, yes. We are..." Icy thought fast. "Looking for some family, and we got caught up in that street fair. We don't know where we are, can you help?"

The man nodded. "Sure. Do you have the address of your family members?"

'Oh shit... wait...' "I don't remember the address, we forgot to write it down... and I think we've had one too many drinks." Icy lied. While they did have some alcohol at the party, the three found it nauseating and vouched instead for "virgin" drinks through the evening.

"Hmm. Well I'm not just going to let you three walk this place alone. There's an apartment above my shop, nobody is living there now, you can stay the night and sleep out your hangovers. Follow me." Said the man.


	5. Chapter 5

"Bloom! Hey did you bring the vocabulary?"

"Yeah, here. Hurry though, class starts in five minutes." Bloom slid the page over to her.

Stella began scrawling down the words on the page as Tecna and Musa wordlessly entered the room and walked over to the two. "Did you guys hear what we're doing for class today?" Tecna asked with a wide grin.

"Watch Stella copy my vocab?" Bloom smirked. Musa giggled and Stella scowled.

"No. Our school has just gotten a sample of the rock found at the South American digsite!" Tecna beamed.

"Digsite? Oh that one you were boasting about the other day?" Musa asked. Tecna nodded.

"Our schoolboard requested a sample of this rock when they were trying to study it." Tecna continued.

"Why would some scientists hand out rocks to any high school who asked?" Stella asked, looking up from her work for just a moment.

"The professor who descovered it is from here, and one of the people on the schoolboard is a good friend of his. We're the only high school to get a sample of the rock."

"Wow, Tecna. You're really intrusive." Bloom Crossed her arms.

"Not intrusive, educated. Anyway, our class is going to examine this rock and see what it's comprised of! The professor told me he'd count this as our final grade too!"

"What? The final is today!" Stella gaped.

"It'll be fine, just keep copying the vocab." Bloom sighed.

Icy, Darcy, and Stormy got a rude awakening late that morning when several police cars and fire engines drove by with their sirens on.

Icy was the first to wake. "Common, up you two. We've got to get back to the main part of town today."

"What..." Darcy yawned. "What are we gonna do when we get there?" She got out of the bed.

"We've got to try and find that red-headed girl. We had a few leads last night on where to find her." Icy said, slipping her pants on.

"This.. Alphea School District?" Stormy asked, stretching her back with a light crack.

"We don't know where that is though." Darcy said, sliding her top on.

"Remember that large yellow vehicle that she drove off in? We've gotta be able to find that easy enough. Something like that would be hard to hide." Icy smirked.

"Alright... well maybe the guy who let us stay here can tell us where the school is. We can try and find the vehicle from there." Darcy said. The trio nodded, grabbed their bags, and left the apartment.

"Alright class. Since this is the equivalent of your final, I've decided to request a block schedule for today so you'll have enough time to get sufficient findings on the rock. You may also notice class is a bit bigger, because I have all three of my Biology classes in here for this final. You and your table partner will work with another pair, forming groups of four. I don't expect to see any slacking off. If I see anyone not helping their group, I will fail you on the spot. Understood?" The class voiced their agreements. "Alright, the stone has been carefully divided into pieces on the tables, grab your groups and get to work."

Bloom and Stella decided to partner with Tecna and Musa, but only because that was who they were closest to. The lab tables were set with a stone about the size of a golf ball in a petri dish, a scientific microsocpe, a small packet of papers, and several other instruments for the purpose of inspecting the rock.

"This is just a rock... why do we have to inspect it to see what it's made of? Isn't it made of mineral compounds found in South Africa?" Bloom analyzed.

"Partially. From what these papers say, scientists saw the stone was worn on the front where the supposed bodies were. Looks like they think the people of the time rubbed oils or something on the outsides of the stone." Musa said, skimming the documents.

"So we have to identify what, if anything was rubbed on the outside of these rocks?" Bloom asked again.

"Precisely. Bloom, go ahead and take a scraping of the rock onto that slide. Stella, get some gravel into the test tube. Musa, could you get some sulfide solution from the table? I'll go grab some dichloride solution." The group began their tasks.

Bloom let Stella scrape the rock first, and she did so using a scalpel. She handed the stone to Bloom, who then began to scrape some of the stone onto a slide.

When she began to scrape the stone, she felt it begin to tingle in her hand, like it was getting hotter. 'Huh?' "Hey Stel?" The blonde turned. "Write down that the stone is very hot..." Bloom said.

"Hot? It wasn't hot when I was holding onto it." Stella grabed the rock from Blooms hand and held it for a second. "Feels cool to me." At that point, Musa came back to the table with the sulfide. "He Musa, hold onto this for a sec and tell me if it feels hot." Stella handed Musa the stone.

"Hm.. nothing. Why?" Musa handed the stone to Bloom. Just as it touched her palm she felt a searing heat, like fire was making contact with her flesh.

"OW!" Bloom shouted. Looking to her palm she saw that it had some very red burn marks on it. "What the..."

"Everything alright here?" The professor said as he walked to their table.

"Uh, yeah... Just got my hand a bit too close to the light on the magnifying lens..." Bloom tried to cover for herself.

The professor nodded. "I should not have to tell you to be more careful around here. Do you want to go to the nurse?"

Bloom shook her head. "No, I'm fine." The professor nodded again and walked off to supervise another group.

"You sure you're alright?" Stella asked. Bloom nodded and picked up the stone again, ignoring the searing pain it had.

"Just gotta get this on the slide." She smiled through the pain that now scalded her palm as she scraped a few little bits of the rock onto one of the slides. Just as she went to set it down, a massive white light erupted from the stone and blinded the whole room for a few seconds.

When everyone could see, the stone Bloom was holding was in pieces on the table, and Bloom was unconscious on the floor.

"Ach..." Icy pressed her hand to her temple again.

"What is it? Is she nearby?" Darcy asked.

"No.. I'm not sure... Gah!" Icy fell to her knees on the sidewalk, clutching her head in pain. Through her closed eyelids she saw nothing but a purple flames, and the red-headed girl she saw at the museum, screaming and writhing in pain. She opened her eyes with a gasp as the vision dissipated.

"Icy? Everything alright?" Darcy put her hand on Icy's shoulder as she stood.

"I... I don't know..." Icy put a hand to her head as she regained her footing.

"Did you see something? Is something wrong with that girl?" Stormy asked.

"I don't know... I saw her burning in the fires of the demons from the past." Icy said.

"The demons...? They've been dead for millions of years though, how could they be hurting someone from this time?" Darcy asked.

"I'm not sure of that either... but we have to find her, she may be in trouble."

"Bloom's condition is stable. Because of a bus crash on the other side of town there are no free ambulances to come get her, so that's why we're keeping her here." Explained the nurse.

Stella, Tecna, Musa and Flora were all in the waiting area of the nurse's office, and were hanging on every word of the nurse. "Do you know what's happened to her?" Flora asked.

"Something must have knocked her unconscious. She's not in a coma or any iminent danger of death, that's for sure. She's unconscious though, and I can't bring her out of it." The nurse explained. "Could you perhaps explain just what happened in the lab before she passed out?"

The trio exchanged looks, before they all shrugged. "We really aren't sure ourselves. Bloom was scraping some bits of the rock and the next thing we know there's a bright light and she was out cold on the floor."

The nurse arched an eyebrow before looking at the papers on her clipboard. "Alright...Can maybe one of you tell me why she has third-degree burns on her left hand?" The girls all looked dumbfounded at each other before shrugging. The nurse sighed. "Alright then. I'll check the serv-"

A soft groan came from the other room. "Bloom?" Stella and the other three gasped and sprinted into the room. The red-headed girl was slowly coming to.

"Stella... guys..." She murmured when they came into her line of sight.

"How are you feeling?" Tecna asked. Bloom slowly came upright and rubbed her head.

"Alright now..." She looked to her burnt hand, now covered in bandages. "This kinda hurts a bit, but that's all."

The nurse came in then and looked at her clipboard. "Well, since the circumstances for your going unconscious are unknown-" she looked to the three girls, "-the rest of the class can't give much of any information as to what happened, and the school won't let me see the surveillance footage of the lab, I am going to recommend you go home for the day. I contacted your mom, she'll be by to pick you up in a few minutes."

Bloom nodded and the nurse left. "What happened? Did I just fall over?" Bloom asked.

Musa shrugged. "There was a bright light, and when we could all see again you were out. Do you know what happened?"

Bloom shook her head. "Actually, for the last... however long I was out, I thought I was sleeping." She saw the looks of her friends and continued. "I was having a dream, that's why I thought I was asleep."

Musa shrugged, Stella made a face, Flora's eye's widened and Tecna nodded. "It isn't odd for people who become unconscious to have vision in that state." Tecna said with a small smirk. "And often those visions or dreams can be very lucrid and detailed, and are often fueled by the emotions or sights seen before going unconscious." She continued.

'So none of it was real then...'

"Bloom, honey! Are you okay?" Her mother came in then. Bloom nodded. "Ready to head home? Do you want to get some things out of your locker?"

"No, it's alright. I think I just want to sleep for a while." Bloom smiled. Her mother nodded, and after saying goodbye to the other three the duo left.


	6. Chapter 6

"The man said the school is just down the road this way." Darcy said, pointing ahead of them as the man she just spoke to walked the opposite direction. "We can't miss it."

"Okay, so now what? Run in there shouting "Red-head" until she comes out?" Stormy asked as they walked toward the school.

"Well... she'll have to leave at some point right? We'll sit around outside until we see her come out." Icy said.

No sooner had she said that when the red-headed girl and another woman exited the building, and headed toward a dark blue car.

"Talk about luck, now what?" Darcy asked.

"If we chase them we're gonna look like we're trying to get them or something... as in kill them." Stormy said.

"Lets follow them as best we can." Icy said.

"Wait, what are those numbers on the car?" Darcy asked as the engine of the car turned on.

"Dunno. Stormy, remember those numbers and letters. Lets tail them." Icy said. The car pulled away from the curb and drove past them. The trio followed casually.

-SOMEWHERE NEAR BLOOM'S HOUSE, 2:46PM

"That was... a long walk..." Darcy panted as they hid in some shrubs.

"But at least we know where she lives. Perhaps we can stakeout here for a while, make sure she stays safe." Stormy said.

"No. See all these other houses? Someone will definitely see is no matter how careful we are. It could be problematic if she and her parents find out we're here." Icy said.

"So what do we do? Walk up to the front door and ask for the girl? We don't even know her name, that won't be suspicious at all." Darcy crossed her arms.

"Maybe we won't have to. Look over there." Stormy pointed just down the road, where a man in a beige car had just pulled up to the sidewalk. He was dressed in a suit and hat, and carrying a vacuum. The trio watched him closely as he rang the doorbell and someone answered.

"Hello madam!" He greeted with a smile. "My name is Nathan Cardinal, and I would like to show you what the Super Vac. 200 can do for you and all of your household messes!" He said cheerily.

"No thank you, I've already got a vacuum." The woman said, and tried to shut the door on him.

"Of course you've got a vacuum, why from what I can see here your house is spotless! Tell me, do you do all the work around the house? Cooking, cleaning?" He asked, jamming his foot in the door.

"Yes I do. Now please-" She tried to shut the door again.

"Well if you don't mind me saying, someone as pretty as you shouldn't be cleaning a big house like this! You should be treating yourself to spa treatments every day! Which is why I not only sell vacuums." He pulled something out of his coat pocket. "I sell traveling spa kits!" He presented a black foldout case, containing all sorts of shiny tools for making oneself look better.

"Ooh... I... I am going to Brazil this weekend, and I haven't been able to get a many-petty at all this week." The woman said, finally opening the door again.

"Brazil huh? Well then, this is a must! If you let me come in I can explain everything that's in here." He said. The woman nodded and let him in.

"Wow..." Darcy said as she watched the scene unfold.

"We can't do that, we don't know how to sell things to people. Did you see that guy work? He was certainly denied entry to that woman's house, yet he pulled out something else and it intrigued her immediately. Who knows if that man had another product to sell if that one didn't work." Icy said.

"We may not know how to sell products to people, but he obviously does. Perhaps we can ask him to help us?" Stormy said.

Icy considered this for a moment. "Good idea. We'll wait until he comes out."

-THE BUSHES NEAR BLOOMS HOUSE, 3:05PM

"There he is!" Darcy said.

"Finally. Took him long enough." Stormy replied.

"Lets grab him." Icy said. The trio came swiftly from the bushes, and ran up tot the man just as he put the vacuum in his trunk. "Hey, you!"

The man saw them approach, and instantly recoiled. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! I don't want any trouble now, I'm just a salesman." He said holding his hands up.

"We need your help." Darcy said.

The man blinked in surprise. "Need... my help? With what?" He asked.

"In that house over there-" Icy pointed to Bloom's house. "-there is someone we need to talk to. Could you maybe get her outside?"

"That house? Sorry I can't." The man said. "Mike, the guy who lives there, is a great friend of mine, and we've had an agreement that I won't try and sell things at his house." Nate shrugged.

"Then could you tell us something else then." Icy continued. "There is a red-headed girl in there, could you tell us her name?"

"Hm? Oh Bloom? That's Mike's daughter. Why do you ask?" He asked.

Icy was drawing a blank, but Stormy quickly recovered. "We found something she dropped at the street fair." She said. "We tried to call after her, but she didn't hear us."

"Oh, alright. I don't know if she's home yet, school doesn't get out for another 15 minutes or so." Nate said. "Anything else I can help you ladies with?"

Icy shook her head. "No, thank you very much." Nate nodded, got in his car and left.

"Bloom. That's her name." Darcy said as Nate drove out of sight.

"We know her name, and we know where she lives." Stormy said.

"We also know who she lives with. At least a mother and a father." Icy said. "This has been a productive day." She smirked.

"How do we proceed? Should we go to her house and ask to see her?" Darcy asked.

"I don't know. Going by what Nate told us, Bloom shouldn't have left school for another 15 minutes, which means something happened that she had to go home early." Icy said.

"That vision that you had, on the sidewalk before Bloom left the school..." Stormy mused. "What if Bloom had that vision too? Or something like it?"

"Maybe Bloom got hurt, and that's why you had the vision of her in pain with the flames... maybe she burnt herself." Darcy tried.

"Hmm... good points...We should-" Icy's stomach cut her off with a loud grumble. "We should... find food I guess." The other two nodded and left the neighborhood.

-BLOOM'S HOUSE, 3:06PM

'Those guys... there they are again.' Bloom said, watching them talk to the man across the street. 'The same ones from the museum. Were they following me from the school?' She saw the blue-haired girl point at her house. 'What does she want with my house? Those three must have followed mom and I home from school, how would they know where I live?' Bloom sat down on her bed, taking her eyes off the trio outside. 'Who are they? What do they want with me?'


	7. Chapter 7

"How hard is it to find some food in this town?" Darcy sighed, her stomach growling.

"We could head back to that street fair, that had free food if we dress up." Stormy said.

"I don't know where that is in relation to where we are." Icy sighed.

"And everything around here costs money... we don't have any of that." Darcy said.

"Did I hear you ladies are in need of some funds?" Came a man from behind them. They turned. "Didn't mean to startle you." Said the man. He was wearing a simple black suit and lavender tie, and his short brown hair was gelled in a smart-looking wave. "I'm Martin O'Connel. I'm the manager of the Grassy Knole Cafe just a few blocks over. We're looking for some new employees, and we could use a few fresh faces like you. I can take you there if you're interested in a job."

'Looks like manual labor hasn't died in the last three million years.' Icy thought. "Sure. Lead the way." The trio followed.

-THE GRASSY KNOLE CAFE, 4:02PM

"Alright, if you ladies just want to fill these out here. Go ahead and hand them back to the guy at the counter when you're done." The trio nodded and began to look over the forms, before another girl came sprinting in.

"I'm here about the job!" she panted, going up to Martin. "Of course! Here you go, once you're done filling it out hand it to the guy at the counter." The girl nodded and took the application.

'She looks familiar... I think I saw her at the museum with Bloom...' "Hey could you help us?" She asked the girl. "We haven't filled out job applications at all, we aren't sure what we're looking at here."

"Oh, sure!" She smiled, and pulled up a chair near the trio. "My name is Flora by the way." She introduced herself.

"I'm Icy. That's Darcy, and this is Stormy." Icy introduced the group.

"Nice to meet all of you. Alright put your name here-..."

"Thanks for your help Flora." Darcy said.

"Oh it's no problem. I like helping people who are as keen on natural foods as I am." Flora said, before standing. "I'd love to talk, but I've got to meet my friends in a few minutes. It was nice meeting you." She nodded before handing in her application and leaving.

"That was one of Bloom's friends, wasn't it?" Stormy asked.

"I think so. She looked familiar, I think she was at the museum that day." Icy said. The other two nodded and handed the application in. Martin walked out of the back room then.

"Hello ladies! I can take you three now for a quick interview if you'd like." He said.

Icy blinked. 'Interview? Oh right. Flora said something about that.' "Uh, sure."

-THAT NIGHT, BLOOM'S HOUSE

"Are you sure you're alright Bloom?" Stella asked through the phone.

"Yes, I'm fine. Just really tired. You guys go to the mall without me, I'll be at school tomorrow." Bloom assured.

"Alright, see you tomorrow I guess." Stella said.

"Bye." Bloom hung up and sighed, flopping back on her bed. She turned her head and looked at her bandaged hand. 'Whatever happened today... so weird... I get burned by a cold stone, I pass out when I try to scrape it... and that dream I had when I was out...Sorry Tecna, but I don't think that was a fake dream. Something is going on, and it's got to do with that blue-haired girl.'

-THE NEXT DAY, GRASSY KNOLE CAFE, 8:44AM

"Sure was nice of Martin to let us stay above the cafe." Darcy said, getting dressed in their work uniforms.

"And hire us too..." Stormy said.

"Well, we have jobs anyway. We'll stay here as long as we need to." Icy said matter-of-factually.

"Either way... perhaps while working here we can figure out more about Bloom." Darcy said as the trio left for the restaurant downstairs.

"Morning ladies!" Greeted Martin. "A few rules on your first day: cafe opens at 7AM on the dot, that's how we get the early-birds." He turned to the clock on the wall. "It's about 8AM right now, but it's okay that you're late, just for today though, alright?" The trio nodded slowly. "Every morning before the cafe opens you have to water the garden out front, and pick any food that's ready. Chelsea already took care of this morning's pick, and by the looks of it we got fresh tomatoes. The carrots should be ready in another day or so, you can pick those." He said. "Oh, and this-" he pointed to an unamused looking girl with wavy brown hair that went to the middle of her back. She was chewing on some gum and looking at them tiredly. -is Chelsea. She's the manager. She takes her orders from me, and you take your orders from her. Simple!" He clapped his hands. "Chelsea will start showing you how you're gonna make drinks and foods and whatnot, I'm going to be late for a meeting downtown if I don't get out of here! See you ladies later!" Martin waved before he left.

Chelsea quickly replaced Martin in front of them. "Alright, newbies." She slurred the sarcasm on the final word. "I'm only staying here for another month, and I don't want any b-s from the boss." She grumbled. "I've almost got enough to pay for two tickets and an appartment in South Cali and I'm not gonna let three bimbos like you screw it up. Do what I say, stay out of my way, and I won't fire you." She grumbled and walked back behind the counter just as some customers walked in the front door.

"I don't like her at all..." Stormy whispered to Darcy, who only nodded as she watched cold, cruel Chelsea turn into warm, "how may I help you" Chelsea.

-ALPHEA HIGH, 12:17PM

"Where's Bloom? I haven't seen her all day!" Stella groaned as she sat down with her lunch. Tecna, Musa, and Flora were already seated at the same table.

"I don't know, has anyone tried texting her?" Flora asked, putting a cherry tomato into her mouth.

"Only all morning. I hope she's alright." Musa said, checking her phone for a reply from their missing friend.

"Maybe her mom made her stay home after yesterday. You know how she is, overprotective." Tecna said slurping up a bite of spaghetti.

"If that's true then why hasn't Bloom texted back?" Stella asked.

"Maybe she's sleeping. Or maybe her phone's dead and she can't find her charger again. We'll call her mom after school if we still haven't heard from her." Musa said.

"Maybe we should just let her have some privacy. She did have a weird day yesterday, and her mom is overprotective, so she's probably just asleep and her phone is on silent. Let's just leave her alone, and if she's not at school tomorrow then we'll call her mom." Flora said.

The others agreed and went about discussing their days to that point.

-BLOOM'S HOUSE, MIDDAY-ISH.

"That girl has been in bed all day... you sure that episode she had yesterday didn't mess with her head?" Asked a blonde haired man.

"Oh Mike..." Said Bloom's mother. "She was fine when I brought her home yesterday, like I said. Let the poor girl sleep, it's not often she gets to sleep in you know." Rang her voice from the kitchen.

"I suppose." Mike sighed, before turning another page in his newspaper and dropping the subject.

Meanwhile upstairs, Bloom was resting, but was far from restful. She lie on her bedsheets, tossing and turning as if she were in pain. Nothing was hurting her on the outside, no, the pain she was feeling was in her mind.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Bloom shouted to the manically laughing voices around her in the darkness. Painless purple flames burned on the ground, casting an ominous glow under Bloom's perfectly nude body.

"We are just passers-by, as you'd say... we saw something that we could not resist and couldn't just walk right by." Said one of the voices. Two more discernible ones continued to laugh and echo across the walls. "As for what we want... well..." That voice began to laugh, joining again with the others.

"What? What do you want? Tell me!" Bloom shouted.

"Did you not hear, little girl?" Said a different voice from before. The other two stopped laughing, and their laughter echoed on for just a few moments more before the seemingly wall-less room was silent.

"We want your body." They said at once.


	8. Chapter 8

-GRASSY KNOLE CAFE, 2:45PM

"This isn't that bad of a job..." Darcy said, drying her hands. The lunch hour rush had just finished up, and acording to Chelsea dinner was never a huge surge for them.

The trio managed to keep up with orders, learning easily along the way and slipping up only a few times. At the present time, several tables were full, and Martin was still out at some undisclosed location. Chelsea was at the front counter on her cellphone, and the trio were in the back cleaning up the kitchen area.

The small bell above the door rang again, and in walked a single boy. He looked to be a bit older than Chelsea, and had short, over-gelled hair. He had on a skin-tight black tee, and skinny fit dark purple jeans with dirty purple converse on his feet. This boy had several piercings on his ears, nose, eyebrows and lips, and tattoos littered up and down his arms. He walked past the counter and around it, back to where Chelsea was and kissed her easily on the lips.

"Hey baby, when do you get off work?" He smiled.

"Why weren't you texting me? You know what'll happen if Martin catches you here!" Chelsea whisper-shouted. The trio pretended to clean the kitchen and focused on listening to their conversation.

"I'm sorry baby, phone bill was late. I just paid it with some money I jacked from my old man. Besides, I can't want to see my girl in an apron?" He chuckled.

"Rod! Seriously, get out of here! If Martin shows up I'm fired! Do you know how close I am to getting enough money to get us to South Cali?" She whisper-shouted again. "Look, I'll be at your place as soon as my shift is done, alright? Please, go!"

Rod grunted and got out of behind the counter. "Fine. Seeya then." Just as he was about to leave, Martin showed up at the front door.

"Just what are you doing here, Mr. Summers?" Martin asked, looking angry. "Here to deface my cafe once again?"

Rod scoffed. "Hardly."

"Then what are you doing here?" Martin quipped. "Need I remind you that your restraining order against this place is still very much active? I have a mind right now to call the police for you being here." He looked to Chelsea behind the counter. "And you, what are you doing bringing him here? You know he's not allowed here."

Rod laughed. "Aww, you want the big-bad cops to come and protect your itty-bitty-sissy cafe?" He pouted in a mocking tone with a fake pout. "Is Martin scared I'm gonna pull up his precious tomato plants again? Or maybe he doesn't want me in the back kitchen making my breakfast." He continued with a smirk.

"Rod! Shut up!" Chelsea practically shouted. "Sir I am so sorry he's here. He had something to tell me and he didn't pay his cellphone bill on time-"

"Then he could have used the payphone. Out, both of you. Chelsea, you're fired." Martin said flatly.

"Wha-? Fired! You can't fire me! I'm the goddamn manager!" She shouted.

"Not anymore. Darcy!" Martin shouted to the kitchen.

Darcy poked her head out. "Yessir?" She asked.

"You're the new manager." He said. Chelsea looked at her and growled, before tearing off the dark-green visor with the cafe's name on it and throwing it to the ground, along with her apron.

"I'm so done with this shithole anyway!" she turned to Rod. "And I'm done with you too!" She stormed out.

"Wha-? Chels? Baby common!" He ran out after her.

"My apologies." He said to the customers who were obviously disturbed by this. "We'll get you some coupons for a free small coffee of your choice." Martin said. The customers seemed satisfied with this and went back to their food.

He walked behind the counter and toward the kitchen before he sighed. "That Chelsea's been really getting on my nerves... And that damn boyfriend of hers..."

"What exactly did he do?" Stormy asked, drying off a cutting board.

"He came here with his little punk-ass friends three different times and kept vandalizing my facility. The first time he came before we even opened, and tore all my tomato plants out of the garden. We caught him and his friends after looking at the surveillance tapes. Then the second time he and his friends went in and ordered some coffee, then ran off without paying." He shook his head. "The last time was the worse. Just two weeks ago, he came in by himself and wanted to talk to Chelsea. Not only did he come in at lunch hour, Chelsea was an idiot and let him behind the counter, where he put roaches in the coffee grounds!" He shook his head with an aggravated sigh. "I finally filed a restraining order against him. That kid is nothing but trouble."

"But then... why didn't you fire Chelsea then?" Icy asked.

"Well, mainly because I knew she'd slip up again. She's been getting careless. I'm sure she told you she's trying to get her and that boyfriend of hers to South California, right? Well, for the last two months she's been getting cocky. She seemed so assured that nothing could make me fire her. Except for that damn boyfriend of hers." He paused and smirked. "That's partially why I put the want ad out. I didn't want to end up hiring you three, but it seems I'll have to hire that other girl who came in last night too. The other reason I put the want ad out was because my other three cooks had all left for jobs at the new mini mall across town." He shook his head. "I figured it was only a matter of time before I'd end up firing Chelsea." He paused and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry I interrupted your work, go ahead and clean up, I'll come back out in fifteen minutes to discuss the official terms of your payment.

The trio went back to work. "Promoted to manager in one day, this whole "job" business is pretty awesome." Darcy smirked.

"Pfft, you only got it because he needed a replacement for Chelsea." Stormy grunted. "I'm glad she's gone anyways, she was a... what did she call us? Bimbo? That seemed pretty insulting."

"He said he was going to hire Flora too. That's good." Icy smirked.

"How is that good? For our little search." Darcy asked.

"We become friends with that Flora girl. She'll tell us about her friends, and we'll get to meet them. I saw her with Bloom at the museum, and they stayed pretty close, they've got to be friends, or at least classmates." Icy said. "We'll learn more about Bloom through her." She concluded.

The other two nodded, and went back to work.


	9. Chapter 9

-THE NEXT DAY, ALPHEA HIGH, 8:22AM

"Bloom's missing again." Stella concluded to Flora, as they listened to the professor lecture about some kind of cell-process.

"She's fine. Like I said, we'll call her parents tonight. Stop worrying so much." Flora smiled.

-BLOOM'S HOUSE, 8:54AM

"That girl is still in bed? She didn't even have dinner last night." Mike sighed.

"Well then, she'll be good and hungry when she wakes up." His wife smiled.

"Maybe you should check on her, make sure she's alright." Mike slipped on his firefighters jacket. "I've got to get to work, I'm on call today."

"Alright honey, have a nice day at work." She kissed him on the cheek as he picked up his lunch pail. "I'll check on Bloom as soon as I get the laundry folded." Mike gave his wife a smile before exiting the house, getting in his truck, and driving off.

It didn't take long for Vanessa to finish folding the laundry, and soon she was upstairs at Bloom's door. Though her motherly instincts told her to go in and instantly coddle her if she was ill, she was hopefull that Bloom was indeed awake, but was enjoying sleeping in or something typical a lazy teenager would do. 'I hope nothing is wrong with her... she was still asleep when I came in here last night to drop off her dinner.' She opened the door, and stepped in. The sight before her made her jaw drop.

Bloom was writhing on the bed, groaning softly. From her burnt palm, deep purple marks like embers were covering her entire left arm and looked to be spreading further.

"Bloom!" Her mother cried. "Bloom! Wake up!" She rushed over to the bed and began to shake her daughter. "Bloom! Bloom!" She cried, shaking her harder.

"You're ours now, girl. This milenia will know the scourge of three million years ago! Your body is almost ours, we are practically in total control of you now!" Shouted the demonic voices.

-GRASSY KNOLE CAFE, 8:55AM

"Ughh!" Icy practically slammed her hand to her temple. "What is..." She fell to her knees.

"Icy? You alright?" Stormy came over to her.

Inside Icy's mind she saw something before her, a familiar sight. Bloom was there, surrounded by purple flames. three shadowed figures were slowly pouring into her, through the burn on her palm. Their markings were spreading up Bloom's arm, and beginning to cover her body.

"Oh god." Icy murmured. She opened her eyes and looked to Stormy. "Tell Martin I've got to go somewhere. I'll be back before noon." Icy stood and quickly rushed out of the cafe.

'I have to make it to Bloom's house fast! This is bad, very bad!' She continued to run as a thought struck her. 'Wait, what am I going to do when I get there? I don't have any amulets, or medallions... I've got to trust that the gods have something in mind!'

-BLOOM'S HOUSE, 8:57AM

"Bloom! Wake up, please! Bloom!" She watched in horror as the marks on her daughters arm continued to spread. "Bloom!" She cried once more, and again nothing happened. Bloom only writhed harder.

Then she heard something from downstairs, the front door opening. "Who's there!" She shouted from Bloom's side.

Downstairs, Icy heard the voice from upstairs. 'Bloom must be upstairs.' Icy bolted up the steps and came to an open door, and a brown haired woman standing over the bed where Bloom lie moving restlessly.

'Gods, please have a plan! I need to save this girl!' She thought helplessly. "Please stand aside, I know what to do." She lied. The woman moved and Icy took her place. She held Bloom's burnt hand in both of hers and shut her eyes, even as she continued to writhe.

In moments Icy found herself inside Bloom's head. She looked around, and saw the same things as in her vision at the cafe, except it felt much darker and sinister. "Like it did back then..." She murmured.

"Help me!" Icy turned at the voice. Bloom was almost perfectly engulfed in darkness, only her head was left exposed.

The cackling of the demons still surrounded her. "Let her go!" Icy shouted.

"Hm? Oh, one of those "heavenly warriors" from the past! I'm scared, what about you two?" The other two voices laughed. "Where are the other two? You know that without them you're nothing." The demon mocked.

"I don't need my sisters to stop you!" Icy sprinted over to Bloom and grabbed one of the demons "tails" that was slowly engulfing her body. Icy tore it off Bloom and the demon cried out in pain. She held her free hand out and shut her eyes once again. "Peset mu eive!" She shouted. Her eyes flashed open and a beam of bright light shot out at the demon, killing it.

Bloom continued to struggle under the pressure of the other two, who had greatly increased their pace at trying to kill her. Icy tore the two of them off her as well, and banished them quickly. Bloom and Icy were the only ones there now, with Bloom lying breathless on the now dark ground. "Lets get out of here."

Icy opened her eyes again and she was in Bloom's room, with the brown-haired woman watching closely. Icy looked at Bloom's arm, which was back to normal now. Bloom groaned and slowly came to.

"Bloom! Oh thank god you're alright!" She cried.

Icy stood and stepped back, getting her bearings. 'How am I going to explain what I just did to her and that woman?' Icy quickly got an idea and ran out of the room, and out of the house before the woman even thanked her.

-GRASSY KNOLE CAFE, 9:04AM

Icy had decided to walk back, since she was really out of breath after killing those demons, and running to the house in the first place.

'How did they even get in her? Wait, think Icy... her arm had those black marks all over it. Maybe they got in through that injury on her hand. What caused it though? What would not only hurt her, but give demons access to her mind?' Icy stepped back in the cafe.

"Welcome back." Darcy said. "Everything alright? I saw you run out in a hurry."

"Something was up with Bloom. There were demons in her mind, they were going to kill her if I didn't show up when I did. She's safe for now." Icy replied.

"Demons? Tell us next time. It's dangerous to fight those things alone." Stormy said from the kitchen.

"Fortunately for you Martin isn't back from... whatever it is he does all day, so he doesn't even know you left.

Icy nodded and went behind the counter just as some customers entered.

-BLOOMS HOUSE, 9:15AM

"You didn't even get her name?" Bloom asked her mother after she explained what happened.

"No. She ran out before I could say anything." Vanessa sighed.

"Did you see what she looked like?" Bloom asked.

"Hm? Well, lets see... She had really long blue hair and was wearing a uniform... I think she works at the Grassy Knole Cafe." Vanessa recalled the name on the visor she wore.

"Grassy Knole Cafe?" Bloom murmured.

"You can go thank her later, right now I want you to eat. You've hardly had a thing since I brought you home a day ago." Bloom nodded and went with her mother downstairs to eat.

-ALPHEA HIGH, 3:34PM

"Finally! I thought Mr. Worlon was never going to stop talking!" Stella smiled as she and the others went outside.

"I think Bloom woke up at some point." Musa said, looking at her phone. The other three looked over her shoulder. "She says she's fine... and to meet her at the Grassy Knole Cafe at 4." Musa read aloud.

"Eep!" Flora squealed "Oh god! I'm almost late for my shift! I'll see you guys there, I have to run home and drop some stuff off first!" Flora waved as she ran off toward the parking lot.

-GRASSY KNOLE CAFE, 3:48PM

"Ahh! Late for my first day! This is so not good." Flora said, putting her visor on as she sat in the car before heading into he building.

"Hm? Oh, you're Flora." Darcy looked at the clock. "Late for the first day? That's no good."

"Sorry! One of my friends has been missing from school the last few days, and my other friends and I have been worrying about her so much, I guess I almost forgot." She rubbed the back of her head.

"Relax, I'm not going to say anything to the boss, better late than never, right?" Darcy smirked. Flora nodded and headed behind the counter to begin learning how to make the drinks.

Stella, Tecna, and Musa showed up at the cafe about five-minutes past four. Bloom was still not there. "Ugh, where is she? She said she'd meet us at four, we're the ones who can be late!" Stella whined.

"Give her a break. Her mom is probably just making sure she won't pass out again if she comes outside." Tecna sighed. The trio walked up to the counter and ordered. They were the only customers in the cafe, with Flora, Icy, Stormy, and Darcy all behind the counter or in the kitchen.

After receiving their drinks, Flora joined them at a table. Just as they sat, Bloom walked in to the cafe. "Hey guys!" Bloom smiled.

They waved and greeted Bloom as she headed over to the table to sit with her friends. "Are you alright? We were worried when you didn't show up at school." Stella said.

"I could tell, you guys only left 30-some texts on my phone!" Bloom giggled. "I'm fine now, don't worry about it. I'll be at school on Monday."

"That's so great!" Flora smiled, sipping her drink.

"Not really, you missed a test in English today." Tecna said pointedly.

"I suppose you guys didn't grab my homework, right?" Bloom sighed.

At that Stella produced a pile of folded papers from her purse, and Musa pulled a few documents as well. "Got your back." Musa smiled.

Bloom took the papers. "You guys rock, thanks!" She smiled. "So what else have I missed, any juicy gossip?"

As the five rambled on at the table, Icy, Stormy and Darcy all congregated in the kitchen.

"Do you think she recognizes you?" Darcy asked Icy.

"Duh, her hair is kinda hard to miss." Stormy replied for her.

"Shut it." Icy scowled. "It's fine. Just act like we know nothing about what happened earlier today and she'll forget about us soon enough." The other two nodded and proceeded to clean the kitchen, as they did when no customers were waiting.

"We were going to see a movie this tomorrow, you in?" Musa asked Bloom.

Bloom shrugged. "Maybe, I dunno. What are you guys going to see?"

"That new one with that dreamy Skylar Dawns..." Stella sighed. "He's say too hot." She giggled.

"Eugh, Skylar Dawns? You realize you're a year and a half older than he is, right?" Tecna groaned.

"Huh! Oh well, maybe he likes older women." Stella winked.

"Or maybe he doesn't even like women!" Musa laughed. Tecna and Bloom giggled too.

"What do you mean by that Musa?" Flora asked.

"Rumor is that Skylar was seen at a night club two weeks ago... a gay night club! He won't tell whether or not he likes guys or girls!" Musa smirked.

"Maybe he likes both. And in that case I still fit the ballot." Stella quipped.

"Hey Flora!" Darcy called from the kitchen. "Come here, your break is up."

"Sorry girls, I'll see you all at the movie tomorrow!" She smiled before standing and heading back into the kitchen.

"Hm... shopping anyone?" Stella offered with a smile.

"No thanks, I've got some studying to do, and Tecna was going to help me." Musa said. Tecna nodded.

"Maybe later. Why don't you head to the mall and I'll catch up with you later?" Stella nodded at Bloom's response and headed out, tossing her cup on the way. Musa and Tecna left as well, waving bye to Bloom.

"Great, she's the only one out there." Stormy said. It was just her and Icy in the kitchen, Darcy was showing Flora where the dumpster was for the trash. "You know why she's here, go talk to her."

"No way. I don't want to-"

"You." She was cut off by a voice at the opening of the kitchen. There stood Bloom with a neutral expression on her face.

"I'll uh... I'll just go see if the bathroom needs cleaning." Stormy said, and scuttled away.

The two were silent for a moment as Icy wiped off the grill. She spoke when she placed her cloth in the sink. "What can I help you with?" Icy asked.

"Who are you? How did you stop those things from killing me?" Bloom asked.

"Being a bit forward..." Icy murmured. "I'm Icy. As for how I stopped those things in your mind, I have no idea. They're gone, that's what counts."

"Icy... I saw you at the museum, and outside my house the other day. What is it you want with me anyway?"

Icy sighed, and heard the backdoor open. Flora and Darcy were on their way in. "I can't talk about it now. Come back at closing time and I'll explain what I can." Bloom nodded and left without another word.


	10. Chapter 10

-GRASSY KNOLE CAFE, 7:55PM

"See you tomorrow!" Flora called as she left. The three were the last in the cafe, and for good reason. Icy wanted them there when she talked to Bloom.

"Do you think she'll show?" Stormy said, taking a bite of her panini, their dinner again for the evening.

"Icy killed three demons that surely would have killed her. How can you not be curious about your savior?" Darcy asked, nibbling on some potato chips.

"Here she is now." Icy said. Outside, a light blue car had pulled up, and sure enough a familiar red-head was inside. She stepped out of the car, and into the cafe, before silently taking a seat across from Icy with Darcy to her left and Stormy to her right.

"Who are these two?" Bloom asked Icy.

"No need to be so cold about us..." Stormy murmured.

"I'm Darcy." Darcy said. "And that's Stormy."

"We're sisters." Icy said.

Bloom nodded. "What happened this morning?"

"Tell us what happened from your view, what do you know?" Icy asked.

"Well, there were these demons, and I-"

"Wait up. Icy said there was some kind of mark on your arm, coming from your left hand. Did you get hurt there at all?" Darcy asked.

"Oh, that." She looked at her bandages. "I just burnt myself. Anyway-"

"How?" Stormy asked.

"It's really weird, I don't think it has to do with this though." Bloom said.

"I just saved you from certain death. I saw black marks coming from your left hand, I think I've got some right to know what happened." Icy said.

"Besides, if it was weird we probably know something about it." Stormy smirked.

"Alright... Well it started out in biology, the professor told us to examine some rock samples from this tomb that recently broke open in South America. One of my friends told me to scrape the rock to look at under the microscope, but when I touched it the rock started to heat up, then it flashed a bright light and I was out cold I guess." Bloom said.

"The rock burnt you?" Darcy asked.

Bloom nodded. "It didn't burn anyone else though."

"Can you take your bandages off? I want to see the mark." Icy said.

Bloom did as asked and unraveled the bandages from her left hand. It looked like an ordinary, but painful, second-degree burn. Icy touched the burn gently, and it revealed an odd black diamond-shape.

"What's...?" Bloom looked at her hand.

"That rock... from South America... You don't think those were the rocks from our tombs?" Stormy asked.

"Wait, your tombs? That's impossible. Those tombs were for some ancient wariors or something. There's no way they'd be alive, let alone here in Alphea." Bloom said.

"For the next few minutes I just want you to listen to me." Icy said flatly, releasing Bloom's hand. Bloom nodded, a bit surprised by her tone, and wrapped her hand back up.

"My sisters and I are those ancient warriors in those tombs. What's my proof? The fact that I saved you from those demons I think should be enough."

Bloom nodded. She did have a point, no normal person could have killed those demons like that. "Then whats with that mark that appeared on my hand when you touched it?" Bloom asked.

"I've got an idea." Darcy chimed in. "You said there were definitely demons, right Icy?" She nodded. "What if those demons infected our tombs? Got into the stone, and for whatever reason reacted when Bloom touched it. Maybe that's some kind of demon mark, and when it appears it's reacting to our positive influence."

Icy nodded. "That's a good theory."

"Why did that rock only hurt me? Not my friends or anyone else who touched that thing?" Bloom asked.

Icy looked around, and the other two shook their heads. "We don't know."

"Then how did you know how to defeat them? Those demons with that spell or whatever?" Bloom asked, getting a bit edgey.

"We don't know that either." Stormy shrugged.

"Then what do you know?" Bloom shouted, slamming her good hand on the table.

"Calm down. We were woken by the gods about a week ago to prevent some kind of imminent peril." Icy began.

"Since we woke up in the middle of that desert, we had to find people. More people, more likely chance of finding that someone who had to do with the peril that may or may not be at hand." Darcy continued. "So we went north, and through a series of events wound up here in Alphea."

"Where we went to that museum and saw you." Stormy said.

"That's when I felt something in my head. Like an instinct or a sense when I looked at you, so we figured that you were somehow involved with the peril." Icy said. "We tried to find you for a few days, and found out your residence when you went home early. The man across the street told us your name."

"So thats how you found my house..." Bloom murmured. "Then what from here?"

"Not sure." Darcy said. "But I think our first priority should be to try and get that mark off her." She turned to her sisters, who nodded in agreement.

"How should we do that?" Stormy asked.

"Let's consult with the gods tonight, hear what they have to say." Icy said.

"What about me?" Bloom asked.

"Go to school like nothing happened. Just act normal, we'll stop by your house if we find anything out." Stormy said.

"That's probably not a great idea... When you burst into my house, I think the neighbors called the cops. They're watching the area pretty well. I'll give you my number, so just call me." Bloom reached for a napkin from the center stand on the table and a pen from her pocket to scrawl down her number.


End file.
